


Do Daemos Dream of Magic Sheep?

by PolkaDot_BowTie



Series: Ava and the Daemos' Adventures of Earth [2]
Category: My inner demons, aphmau - Fandom
Genre: Guilty! Pierce, Nightmare monsters, Nightmares, Pierce has mild PTSD, Weapons, dead bodies, no beta - we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-10
Updated: 2020-04-10
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:07:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23581327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PolkaDot_BowTie/pseuds/PolkaDot_BowTie
Series: Ava and the Daemos' Adventures of Earth [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1697089
Comments: 3
Kudos: 10





	Do Daemos Dream of Magic Sheep?

Pierce stood alone in the ruins of the human village on Daemos. He gazed out at the smoldering wreckage, both disgusted and pleased. Suddenly, a small cloud of dark blue smoke appeared on his shoulder.

“Greetings Tantabus,” His voice was gruff and deep, “I am ready, do your worst…” He growled challengingly.

The Tantabus glowed briefly before giving Pierce a sword covered in blood and spreading bodies across the ruins. Humans: hundreds of vulnerable and defenseless villagers dead, with him left responsible. Pierce couldn’t help but grin to himself, the Tantabus never disappointed with these horrific visions.

Pierce felt a disturbance in the air. He turned around and saw the Tantabus grow.

“No, what is it doing?” He asked himself.

He watched it poke a hole in his reality and glide gracefully through the rift.

“No! It’s… gone!” He yelled unable to accept the news. As soon as it left, the sword he had been holding turned to a giant stick of bread, and all the dead villagers were soon alive and thanking him for bringing them food.

“Thank you for the food, General Pierce!” One said.

“Such a sweet Daemos!” Another called out.

“Thank you! How can we ever repay you!?” The gracious cheering soon became too much, overwhelming the blue horned Daemos.

“No, please, stop. Don’t thank me, I don’t deserve it, I- “

Pierce awoke with a start, sat in his bed, gripping the sheets. He moved his hair out of his face and tried to slow his heart from beating itself out of his chest. After realizing he was still on Earth, in his room, Pierce came to terms with what had occurred in the dream realm.

“My dream ended… happily?” He said, disbelieving, “That. Cannot. Happen!”

* * *

When the sun rose the next morning, Pierce hadn’t noticed that everyone was very quiet and sluggish.

Noi yawned, “Sorry if I’m not doing anything as quickly as I usually am…” He apologized, “I didn’t get the best night sleep last night.”

“Me either,” Ava said, “I had a really scary nightmare…”

Everyone but Pierce looked at her with wide eyes and mouths agape.

“What?” She asked.

“Me too!!” They said in unison.

“Well- You know, I didn’t think mine was that scary.” Asch snorted, crossing his arms.

“Well mine was.” Rhys said, touching his chest, “There was this blue smoke monster and- “

He was interrupted when Pierce slammed his hands on the table in front of him.

“YOU SAW A BLUE SMOKE MONSTER IN YOUR SLEEP LAST NIGHT!?!?” The knight yelled, eyes wide, examining the scholar. Rhys nodded quietly, stunned from the sudden outburst from the usually quiet knight.

“Okay, okay. Umm, how many of you saw a blue smoke monster in your dreams last night?”

The entire group raised their hands, showing that they all had witnessed the horrors of the Tantabus. Pierce covered his mouth with one hand, eyebrows wrinkling nervously.

“Do you know what’s going on?” Asch growled, getting a bit too close for comfort.

“Yes.”

“What was that monster?” Ava asked, cocking her head curiously.

“The creature you all witnessed is called The Tantabus. It’s a creature I created.” Pierce explained, rubbing his arm.

“But why?” Noi asked sympathetically.

“To give myself the same nightmare every night, to punish myself for the pain I inflicted on so many innocent souls back on Daemos. Though it seems I have not learned my lesson, because here I am, inflicting more pain on those I care about.” He said, dipping his head in shame, “It must have learned of you five when being dormant and seeing of you in my dreams during our time here. Now it seeks to plague your slumbers as well after escaping my dreams last night.”

Leif shrugged nonchalantly, gaining the attention of everyone in the room.

“Eh, so Smokey gave us bad dreams, no biggie!” He said.

Pierce shook his head at Leif’s naivety.

“I hadn’t noticed the Tantabus had grown more powerful, and I hadn’t noticed that this power would enable it to escape my dreams. If it grows powerful enough, it could find a way into the real world. It could turn all of earth into a living nightmare!” Pierce revealed the horrific truth, causing the others to gasp in horror.

Leif spoke up again. “Okay, I take it back. That’s bad; really bad!”

* * *

Together, they waited for night to fall. Outside Ava’s window, the stars dotted the sky and the moon shone like a giant pearl.

“We’ve prepared everything exactly as you’ve asked.” Rhys pointed out, showing the sleeping bags scattered across the floor of Ava’s bedroom.

“Good. As you five slumber here, I will follow the Tantabus into whichever of your dreams it infests.” Pierce explained, walking into the space in the centre where no sleeping bay lay.

“Speaking of dreams, aren’t you going to get any help from someone on Daemos to help you navigate the dream realm?” Ava asked.

Pierce shook his head, causing his ponytail to land on his shoulder.

“There is nothing the people of Daemos can do, they have no power in the realm of sleep. Only I can move from dream to dream, I’m afraid nobody can help me tonight…” Pierce told the unaware human.

“Not even us?” Noi asked, already getting into a sleeping bag.

“Especially you! You’ve all suffered so much because of me; you should only sleep whilst I hunt the Tantabus in your dreams.”

Asch yawned, “One god thing about not sleeping well last night: it shouldn’t be too hard to fall asleep now.” The Prince said, dozing off.

Soon enough, everyone was in their sleeping bags or bed, sleeping soundly. Pierce took the chance to perform the spell, closing his eyes to concentrate. The knight waved his arms around elegantly, causing the base of his horns started to glow a dazzling white, swirling around them until five white strings exited the tips. The strings were in fact portal-like lines that fixed themselves to the foreheads of each of the other Daemos and Princess Ava. The lines were secure.

Pierce felt a disturbance in one of the lines, soon realising what it was. Without hesitation, he pursued the Tantabus into the dream of Prince Asch.

When Pierce arrived, it seemed the Tantabus had already inflicted plenty of damage on the Prince’s dream. Grateful subjects that were praising the Prince’s bravery were turned into mindless creatures, trying to attack him. In turn, Asch had barricaded himself in a smaller version of the castle, holding the door back from the evil creatures.

“The Tantabus has already infected your dream?!” Pierce called out to Asch when he arrived.

“Ugh! Clearly!” Asch hissed, putting all his effort into holding back the door.

“My apologies, Prince Asch, but I must pursue the Tantabus.” Pierce bowed. Even in the dream realm, he was going to stay respectful. Asch nodded, signalling that Pierce was permitted.

“At least let me help you!” Asch gritted out.

“No!” Pierce yelled, “You’ve already suffered too much because of me!”

Asch noticed that the Tantabus grew after Pierce blamed himself.

“I will pursue the Tantabus, good luck, my Prince.” Pierce called out, jumping through the opening the Tantabus escaped through. Just as his knight left, the door Asch was barricading gave in, allowing the zombie like citizens of Daemos full access to the castle…

* * *

Pierce found himself in a strange area. Although, he did see Noi in the centre of it all. He ran up to Noi, just as the lowest ranking Daemos jumped in the air, causing the surrounding areas to change completely.

“I followed the Tantabus here, now I need to only find it.” He said.

“Sorry,” Noi said, humping I the air again, triggering the surrounding areas to change, “can’t help it, an idea pops into my head and- OOH! Cake!!”

When Noi jumped into the air, the surrounding areas changed into a bakery with shelves stacked high with beautifully decorated cakes and desserts.

Pierce noticed the Tantabus drift out from behind one of the desserts, floating out of the way of any projectiles.

“No, wait-!” Before Pierce could warn Noi, the orange horned Daemos was squirted in the face by strawberry frosting. When Noi opened his eyes again, he was standing in front of an ugly cake-monster with six eyes and large arms made of fondant.

“EEWWWW: cake!” Noi corrected himself. The magicless Daemos was left defenceless against the monsters, so Pierce leaped in front of him, blasting the terrifying treats with magic, causing them to explode into cake batter and icing. Turning around, Pierce noticed the Tantabus escape through a rift in the floor, but the surroundings changed before he could follow it.

“No…” He said.

“Sorry!” Noi apologised for his busy mind.

Instead Pierce generated his own portal, running through it to follow his creation into the next dream.

Just as Pierce left, Noi jumped into the air. The surrounding changed into the city where Ava lived, with a giant ice cream in the centre of the street.

“Who wants Ice-cream!?” Noi yelled, prompting all the citizens to come out to have some.

* * *

When Pierce leapt through the other end of the portal, he saw himself in the park Ava had taken them to once. In the middle of the sun, he saw Ava getting her hair combed by a giant Johnny Cat-Spirit.

“Mmmmm,” She hummed, “It’s so nice to be the pet for once.”

Pierce smiled at the view before tensing up. The Tantabus was sneaking out from behind the giant Johnny… what was it corrupting?

In a flash, the giant Johnny’s fangs became longer and sharper, tail bony and wiry, and his eyes became blood red. Still stroking Ava, she must not have noticed the change in the cat’s demeanour since he had no hesitation in his actions. She must have noticed though when a giant drop of drool landed on her head. She turned around and the giant cat roared menacingly in her face.

“N-nice, g-giant, evil Johnny… AHHH!!” Ava shrieked as the giant cat tried to swallow her whole. Pierce scooped Ava up and placed her on top of the tree they had been sat under.

Ava wiped her brow in relief.

“Thanks.” She said, breathlessly. Pierce didn’t stick around however, as he launched himself through a portal after witnessing the Tantabus do the same moments before.

When Pierce came out of the end of the portal, he was standing in a dark cave with Leif punching all forms of monsters.

“I can see the Tantabus has already turned your dream into a nightmare!” Pierce exclaimed, coming to aid Leif.

“What are you talking about? This is my favourite dream!” Leif said, punching a monster in the face of his shoulder without looking.

Looking around, Pierce saw the Tantabus lurking in the corner of the cave. It drifted away, turning the ground into minty green grass. Leif kicked another monster in the face when they all disappeared. Large flowers with faces sprouted from the ground, singing a sickeningly sweet song. Pierce grimaced.

Leif stared at the plants and the world around him, putting his hands on his ears and screeching.

Pierce saw the Tantabus rip another rift between the dreams and slither through, quickly following.

After coming through the portal, Pierce found himself standing in a giant library stacked high with millions of books. They fluttered around a desk with Rhys sat at it, his nose in a book. The Tantabus rolled noisily down the alleyway, not taking the stealth tactic it had used before. It was getting stronger; it was far bigger than before… That’s not good…

It looked as though it was about to swallow Rhys whole. Pierce jumped in front of it, blasting the smoke monster with magic, trapping it temporarily in a crystal prison. He turned around and saw Rhys struggling against the flying books, which had no doubt been corrupted when the Tantabus was free. He heard cracking sounds…

When Pierce turned around, the crystal prison was chipping, then completely exploded, granting the Tantabus free reign.

The spell was broken when everyone woke up.

The group awoke with a start, sitting up in their sleeping bags on the floor.

“That- That was terrible! I never want to have that nightmare again!” Ava said, hiding her face in her blankets.

“Ugh, me either…” Leif said, rocking himself back and forth.

“I am so sorry… I failed. It will be back to infect your dreams the next time you sleep.” Pierce admitted, unable to forgive his failure.

“Oh no!” Noi said, covering his head with the blanket.

“Yeah, I could go without seeing that creature ever again!” Ava said, crossing her arms.

“But you will, again and again, every night until it grows strong enough to infect the waking world.” Pierce emphasized his point by getting up in the other’s faces. He walked over to the window and sat down.

“After what I did on Daemos as a general, the fact that I am once again responsible for harming others is more than I can bare…” He put his head in his arms. He wiped away the tears that were starting to form, stood up and turned around to face the others.

“It’ll be okay! Everyone makes mistakes!” Noi said, optimistically.

Pierce nodded, hopefully.

“As long as none of you dreamt of another person, the Tantabus remains confined to your dreams. I still have a chance to catch it before its too late!” Pierce stated determined. Everyone nodded their heads.

“Phew! That’s good to hear…” Noi said, slightly nervous, “Though, after you left, I did happen to dream that I was eating a giant ice cream cone with the entire city and we had to take a test we didn’t study for. See: everyone makes mistakes!”

The gravity of the situation hit him all at once. Noi shrunk under his covers when Leif and Asch gave him the dirtiest looks, he’d ever seen. Pierce, meanwhile, was gob smacked. What does he do? He can’t let the entire city know he’s magic! What can he do?!

* * *

“But that means the Tantabus could be turning every dream in the city into a nightmare!” Rhys informed, worried for the humans of the city.

“It is much worse than that,” Pierce told him, “Infecting all those dreams gives it more and more power! Soon it will be able to escape into the real world and infect Earth with its nightmare plague!”

“Then you must let us help you stop it before that happens!” Ava said determinedly, climbing to the edge of her bed.

“But how!? The Tantabus was able to escape Pierce when it only had five dreams to infect…” Leif exclaimed; eyebrows furrowed with worry.

“He’s right, with so many dreams to hide in, I don’t know how I can catch it.” Pierce said, just about ready to give up all hope. Rhys hummed deep in thought. His eyes lit up; he’d had an idea.

“What if the entire city were having only one dream?” He suggested, grinning.

“I… can create shared dreams, yes, but for so many people at once? I have never done anything like that. Imagine the power it would take.” Pierce said to himself, imagining the pain afterwards. He grimaced.

“Well, it is worth a try, isn’t it?” Asch asked.

Pierce nodded.

“Of course. I would do anything to end this, including accept your help. I cannot allow the Tantabus to escape into the real world.” Pierce stood up again, preparing himself mentally and physically for the hell he’s about to put himself through.

“All of you must go back to sleep now, and hope, that I can create such a dream.” Pierce said.

They four Daemos and Ava soon fell back to sleep, exhausted from all the strain. Pierce took a deep breath and performed the spell again. He grunted, already feeling the strain. From all the power usage, his eyes glowed a dazzling white as the dream links spread out of Ava’s window not the city…

* * *

When Ava and the Daemos ‘awoke’, the world was a lucid place, having that familiar shiny visual.

People around them were figuring themselves out, seeming to just accept each other as hallucinations created by their own brains. People started doing things that wouldn’t be possible. Lamps were walking around, people were swimming in the air, it was all very odd.

Rhys gasped, “Pierce did it!” He exclaimed, proud of his comrade.

“ **People!** ” Came a voice from not far away. Together, they ran over to it, seeing Pierce floating in a bubble with the dream links still sprouting from his horns. Ava silently admired the beautiful magic. People stared at him in awe, a few dipping their heads with respect.

“ **There is no time for that! There is something coming…Something terrible! Oh no, it is already here!!!** ” Pierce yelled.

Everybody looked up, over the buildings of the dream city. The Tantabus, even bigger than before, flew overhead. People shrieked in fear, running in all directions. Pierce’s voice cut overtop the chaos.

“ **I am so sorry! I brought upon you, but I will end it now!!** ” Pierce stated, determined. He used magic he had to spare to produce a pathetic blast of magic, barely phasing the wicked creature of nightmares as it tormented the citizens of the city. He quickly halted his attempts, out of breath.

“Pierce! What’s wrong?!” Ava asked, worried at the knight’s lack of magic.

“ **It- It’s taking all my strength to hold** **this massive dream together! You will have to stop it; I truly wish I didn’t have to ask you this!** ” Pierce said, disappointed in himself. He made this monster, and he wasn’t going to be the one to stop it; pathetic…

“Then you’re in luck.” Rhys said, determined.

“Yeah! We’re already on it!” Leif exclaimed, dashing off. The group followed him, leaving Pierce to hold the dream together.

They watched, trailing behind, as the Tantabus transformed buildings into giant monsters, growling ferociously. One monster building grabbed someone off the sidewalk and growled in their face. Leif, realizing this was a dream, flew into the air and kicked the building in its face. When they dropped the person, he picked them up and safely flew them to the ground, where they scampered off. Rhys blasted one with magic, making it drop two people. They were safely picked up by Asch and Ava. Another person was stuck in the giant foot of a tall tower. Noi formed himself an alligator arm and bit the foot, releasing the person stuck there.

“Come on!” Leif said to Asch, still floating in the air by a foot, “If that Tantabus thing turns any more of this dream against us, we’ll be too busy saving people to stop it. Then, it can escape into the real world!”

Together, Asch ran down the street to the others, where they’d regrouped, Leif still flying, “How will we know when its able to escape?” He asked, still running.

When he came to a halt, he looked to where everyone else was looking, seeing the Tantabus gain a sharp-looking edge and _slice_ through the reality like soft butter.

“Oh, I think we’ll know…” Leif said, shrinking down at the sight. Rhys blasted it with a little bit of ice, making it retract back into the dream’s reality. Pierce took the opportunity to seal the rift again, with any piece of magic he could spare.

Panting, he instructed them to keep going, “ **Hurry!** ”

“We need them to help us!” Noi said.

Ava snapped her fingers, “Exactly!”

She stood on top of a soapbox she formed, getting the attention of everyone on the street.

“People! We need your help to stop that thing! You can do anything in a dream, remember?! This is your dream! Anything you can do in your dreams; you can do now!” Ava emphasized her point by stamping her foot.

Ava’s speech seemed to inspire the people, as they started to form different things that could help them fight the Tantabus.

The Tantabus formed a pair of scissors with one of its edges, cutting a clean split between the realities. Someone, a young girl by the looks of it, flew up on a flying horse and sliced the Tantabus in two with a giant sword. It was surprised, by quickly pulled itself back together. Someone else – a lawyer, maybe? – blasted the Tantabus with a ray of coins, obscuring its path. The giant monster retreated into the dream. As it sliced more and more openings through the fabric of the dream, people collected and prevented it. It made Ava’s heart warm.

“It’s working!” Leif said, smiling.

Rhys pointed to the giant creature, “But it’s not enough!”

Pierce stared at his creation with horror at how big it had become.

“Then do more! This is a dream, remember!?” Noi interjected. People became frantic, weaponizing anything on the street into something they could use to fight against it. Rhys and Asch used their magic to seal the rifts, nodding in approval at the lack of exits.

Tears streamed down Pierce’s face: the strain of using so much magic was becoming a little too much for him.

“ **Ugh! I can’t hold this dream together much longer! Earth will fall, because of me!!** ”

The Tantabus grew larger and larger the more Pierce said.

“Is it just me or did it grow bigger after Pierce said that?” Noi asked, rubbing his eyes.

“I think it’s feeding off your guilt, Pierce!” Rhys yelled at him.

“ **If that’s true, then that’s probably how it grew strong enough to escape my dreams in the first place!** ”

“Say what now?!” Ava squealed, still watching the colossal creature. It formed the head of a giant unicorn, using the sharp edge of the horn to split the reality again.

“ **I created the Tantabus *pant* to give myself the same nightmare every night. *Pant* To punish myself for the evil I caused as a Daemos general.** ”

“But why would you do that!?” Noi asked, shouting over the winds that were picking up.

“ **To make sure I _never_ forgave myself for how much innocent people suffered because of me! Though it seems I have not learned my lesson, because now I** **have only made you suffer more!** ”

The Tantabus grew at least double its previous size, showing just how much guilt the blue horned Daemos was carrying.

“But that means you might just be the key to stopping all of this!” Rhys suggested, running up to him with the others trailing behind him.

“Yeah!” Leif yelled from the sky, where he was still flying around, trying to obscure the Tantabus in some way, “If it gets strong because you feel bad for what you did as a general, then all you have to do is stop feeling bad about what you did!” He made it sound so simple.

“ **How can I forgive myself?! I am no better now than I was then, my creation is about to turn the world into a living nightmare!!!** ” A crowd was beginning to form.

“But look at what you’re doing!” Rhys negotiated, “The Daemos generals would have wanted the Tantabus to turn the world into a living nightmare! You’re doing everything you can to stop it!”

“Don’t you see?! That proves you’re not the same person you were then! Everybody who knows you knows that General Pierce is in the past. We all trust you, Pierce!” Ava finished, “Do you trust us enough to believe we are right?”

Pierce’s blue pupils returned to normal as he gazed up at the Tantabus. It was halfway out of the rift. He then looked back down at the other Daemos and Ava, who were gazing at him with sympathetic smiles. He smiled, the tears cutting off.

“ **I do.** ”

The Tantabus seemed to realize its fun was over, shrinking back to a small blob of blue smoke. It floated over, and walked into its creator, dissipating with a small flash. Pierce put his hand over where the Tantabus went, smiling to himself.

“ **Thank you,** ” The spell was ending, the magic dispelled by his horns was fading, “ **Thank you all.** ”

The giant dream ended with a flash, the Tantabus defeated, and everyone free to enjoy the day.

* * *

Ava awoke with a start, gasping.

“Pierce did it!” She stated, excited.

Asch yawned, “He did! Though, I’m not exactly sure what he did…”

Rhys stepped up to answer,

“Pierce created the Tantabus to punish himself. The worse she felt, the more power it had. But once he finally forgave himself for what the generals did- “

“POOF!” Noi finished for him.

Ava shushed them quietly, pointing to the floor, where an exhausted Pierce laid.

“Huh, wonder what he’s dreaming about now…” Noi pondered aloud.

Completely oblivious, in the realm of dreams, Pierce wasn’t suffering vicious nightmares. Instead, enjoying a beautiful nap in a beautiful grotto…


End file.
